James and 1,2,3 John: A Critical & Exegetical Commentary

By Gareth L Reese

This is a phrase-by-phrase commentary and exposition of the New Testament books of James and 1,2,3 John.  This commentary is in use as a college textbook, yet is suitable for the lay church member.

James and 1 John are written as epistles to Christians in general (i.e., not as letters to a particula

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scripture Exposition Books LLC
• Release date: Dec 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9780998451848

Gareth L Reese

Dr. Gareth L. Reese had a 65-year career as a professor of New Testament at Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, MO. Whether teaching courses, or preaching, or offering seminars in the U.S. and abroad, he has long been known for his ability to make the Word of God come alive for his listeners and readers.The commentaries in this set capture the thousands of hours Dr. Reese has spent studying, examining, and wrestling with what God has written in the scriptures, as he has sought to understand and harmonize the wondrous way of salvation that God has revealed to us. Dr. Reese's practice has long been to read one new commentary each time he teaches a course, and this extensive and broad and diligent study is clearly evident in his writings. His Acts commentary, originally published in 1966, quickly became the standard course textbook in the Bible colleges associated with the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, and remained so for four decades. His works have been translated into multiple languages.An advocate for the Restoration Movement, Dr. Reese is a conservative evangelical scholar. His writings display a deep and profound respect for the Word of God; for the inspired authors through whom this Word was given; for the Church, the Body of Christ, that continues to be built up as a spiritual house by that Word; and, most of all, for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who is exalted and glorified and honored as we come to Him according to His Word.Dr. Reese is a 1954 graduate of the Cincinnati Bible Seminary (later, Cincinnati Christian University), and holds multiple post graduate degrees.

Book preview

Copyright © 2007 by Scripture Exposition Books.

The information in this book is intended for classroom and pulpit use by Bible students and teachers. Therefore readers who wish to produce any of the comments or special studies in the form of free handouts to students or listeners, or in sermon outlines as they are being preached, are encouraged to do so with no need to seek prior permission. We ask that you simply include a line giving credit to the source you have copied.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Scripture quotations contained herein, unless otherwise noted, are from the New American Standard Bible, copyrighted 1960, 1962, 1063, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

ISBN: 099-845-1843

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the second of two sons God has given to Kathleen and me, and whom we named after David's special friend. We call him Jon, and it seems appropriate to recognize him in this commentary on a book written by another John.

JONATHAN ANDREW REESE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The commentary on each New Testament epistle included in this book has its own separate pagination.

THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

Preface

Introductory Studies

Historical Allusions

Authorship and Attestation

Internal evidence

External evidence

Theories of pseudonymity

The Life of James

Date of Writing

Destination

Place of Writing

Purpose and Occasion of the Letter

Literary Style of the Epistle

Text

Paul and James

Catholic Epistles

Relation to Other Writings

Outline

Commentary

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Special Study #1: The Image and Likeness of God

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Special Study #2: Is Anyone Sick? What Should He or She Do?

Selected Bibliography for James

FIRST JOHN

Preface

Introductory Studies

Traditional Views

Asia Minor

Geography and Topography

History

Christianity in Asia Minor

Something ominous on the horizon

Life of John, Son of Zebedee

Before Pentecost

After Pentecost

On the isle of Patmos

The death of John xiv

Historical Allusions

Authorship and Attestation

Internal evidence

External evidence

Redaction Criticism

Basic theory

Attempts to apply the theory to Johannine literature

Some intermediate conclusions reached by the critics

The current situation

Who were the Deceivers?

By what name shall we call them?

Characteristic ideas in the Gnostic worldview

Final thoughts concerning the deceivers

Date of Writing

Place of Writing

Destination

What is the Form of this Writing?

Text

Outline

Value of 1 John

Commentary

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Selected Bibliography for 1,2,3 John

SECOND JOHN

Introductory Studies

Historical Allusions

Authorship

External evidence

Internal evidence

Destination

Was the letter addressed to a church?

Was the letter addressed to an individual?

Conclusions concerning the destination of 2 John

Purpose and Occasion

Date and Place

Outline

Commentary on 2 John

Special Study #3: Receive Him Not (by W. Karl Ketcherside)

THIRD JOHN

Introductory Studies

Historical Allusions

Authorship and Attestation

External evidence

Internal evidence

Conclusions concerning authorship

Destination

Place and Date of Writing

Occasion and Purpose of Writing

Critical Matters

Does 3 John 9 allude to a letter now lost?

Attempts at a reconstruction of a Sitz-im-Leben for 3 John

Outline

Commentary on 3 John

INDEXES

Index to 1 John

Index to 2 John

Index to 3 John

Commentary On

James

PREFACE

My indebtedness to many others in the development of the comments on James is evident from the footnotes and bibliography.

This commentator's interest in James was first whetted by R.C. Foster in a class on James taught at The Cincinnati Bible Seminary in the early 1950's. Mr. Foster himself had studied under J.H. Ropes, and often interacted with and reacted not only to what Ropes had taught in class but what also appeared in print in his volume on James in the International Critical Commentary. A class on James was one of the first courses this commentator taught when beginning his lifetime of teaching at Central Christian College of the Bible. The questions asked by thoughtful students only proved to stimulate more interest in this brief letter.

Through the years students have asked What's a good commentary on James? Sometimes they were seeking help with understanding the meaning of the verses. Sometimes they were looking for lesson or sermon helps. It was difficult to give a very satisfactory recommendation since there were not many who were doing any detailed work in the epistle, and many available commentaries were written more on a popular level than an in-depth scholarly level. The past quarter century has seen a new interest in James as redaction critics and social science critics try to reconstruct what first century Christianity was like. The working thesis of these recent writers is that James may be one of our earliest witnesses to that period of time, so a prodigious amount of labor has been expended trying to distill from his brief notes some kind of picture of what life was like both in his world and in his church.

However, many of the scholarly works leave much to be desired. One reason is that the recent works show little interest in the message of James. Another reason is that many of them treat James as a pseudonymous work, put together by some editor or redactor who used a cut-and-paste method to assemble these bits and pieces that make up our present letter. If this is true, it attacks the very reason books were included in our New Testament canon, namely their inspiration. Contemporary scholarship seems more interested in demonstrating that the letter can be forced to fit into whatever method of interpretation the scholar is currently interested in, be it tradition-criticism, redaction criticism, social science criticism, literary criticism, or rhetorical criticism. One comes away from such tomes feeling spiritually hungry for some word from God.

This commentator is aware his previous commentaries have been dismissed by some contemporary teachers as being dated because they have followed a conservative viewpoint theologically. But this commentator does not subscribe to the viewpoint that a work is scholarly only if it parrots the latest darling Bible-study methodology of those who might be labeled higher critics. A horse, working hard on a hot summer day, could sweat until the sides of the animal were covered with a white lather. However, the lather did not provide nourishment for man or beast. A number of the products of current scholarship, in this commentator's opinion, are lather. They do show a prodigious amount of work, but the blather provides little nourishment for the hungry soul. It is precisely because there are so few conservative Bible studies being published that this commentator is writing the books he is. In his mind, it is one way to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Without apology for starting with a conservative foundation, it is this commentator's hope to demonstrate that James is much more than a right strawy epistle. Rather, it highlights and emphasizes some of the great spiritual principles our Lord and Savior taught, ethical principles by which He expected His followers to live, and by which they will be judged.

Synopsis of the Introductory Studies

The introductory studies stretch over a number of pages. The arguments over the book of James are detailed and intricate and interwoven, sometimes almost labyrinthine. To keep us from losing our way, perhaps it would be beneficial to keep in mind a brief synopsis of the framework we will be proposing.

Author - James, the Lord's brother, an apostle and long-time leader of the Christian church at Jerusalem.

Destination - The traditional view is that the letter is addressed to Christians who were ethnically Jewish and who were living all over the Roman world.

Date - Conservative Bible students have vigorously defended two possible dates for the writing of the letter. Some have opted for a date shortly before the Jerusalem Conference (which was held in AD 51). Others have advocated a date shortly before James' death which occurred in AD 62. This commentator is going to propose a date in the early or mid-50's AD, just after the Jerusalem Conference.

Purpose - To encourage his readers to live an ethical and morally productive Christian life, in total harmony with what Jesus taught. We offer the hypothesis that this letter is James' answer to the misuse of his name and example made by the Judaizers who troubled the churches just before and just after the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15, Galatians 2).

Now the way is open for a careful study of the evidence to see if these hypotheses can be tested and verified. When the study of introductory matters is concluded and we begin a study of the text proper, the important thing to keep in mind is that James' message is a Word from the Lord, and the commands he writes to his readers must be obeyed. After all, when we all come to the final judgment, our eternal destiny will be determined by how consistently our lives have reflected our Lord's expectations as revealed in His Word.

THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

INTRODUCTORY STUDIES

HISTORICAL ALLUSIONS

We use the historical-grammatical method of interpreting Scripture. Grammatical means we pay attention to the Greek grammar and the meanings of the words. Historical means we try to determine the historical situation to which and out of which the work was written. It is in pursuit of this latter information that a study of the historical allusions in the letter becomes important.

The usual place to look for historical allusions is in the opening and closing sentences of first century letters, but in the case of James we must look throughout the letter for hints.

Title

Our New Testament books now have titles affixed to them. The titles were not on the autograph copies but were added later by church men. At first the title may have been no more than one word in the genitive case, IAKOBOU, of James.¹ As time passed, the titles tended to get longer. Soon it read Epistle of James, then Catholic Epistle of James, and even Catholic Epistle of the Apostle James. Eventually there was a heading Catholic Epistles for the letters of James, Peter, John, and Jude, with a subheading of James, or whoever the writers of the other letters were.

James 1:1 — In this verse we see the typical way a first century letter began, giving a signature, the address, and greetings. Hundreds of papyrus letters have been uncovered from the sands of Egypt that bear a similar epistolary opening. The author signs his name James and briefly identifies which James is writing, i.e., it is one who is a bondservant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, he has a special position of authority and leadership, and he is a Christian. The letter is addressed to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad. As the marginal note shows, there is some question whether or not to capitalize the word Dispersion. With a capital D the word becomes the technical term used to describe where the Jewish people were living since the Babylonian Captivity, at which time they had been carried away and driven away from the land of Israel.² Since James also addresses his readers as my brethren, the combination of brethren and Dispersion would suggest the readers are completed Jews, that is, Jewish Christians living all over the Mediterranean world. If we choose lower case d, then it is supposed that the letter is addressed to Christian believers of whatever ethnic background who are away from their heavenly homeland. The twelve tribes are spiritual Israel, the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16).³ The greeting was the typical Hellenistic way to greet the readers to whom a letter was addressed.

Questions immediately come to mind. Who is this James that he needs no more identification than is given here, yet the readers will know who wrote the letter? Why should this James feel a responsibility for these dispersed brethren? What possible date for the letter might be implied in this first verse? Concerning the date for the writing of the letter, the fact that James talks about the Lord Jesus Christ requires a post-AD 30 date. The fact that the readers are believers who have been scattered implies a date after AD 34 when the church was scattered by the persecution that arose with the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 8:1-4). As early as AD 37, James, the brother of the Lord, was an apostle of Jesus and a leader at the Jerusalem church (Galatians 1:19). An apostle would have worldwide responsibility for the growth and welfare of believers. Some of his scattered readers may at one time have been part of the congregation to which he ministered in Jerusalem. Were the scattered Christians no longer in contact with the apostles (who stayed behind at Jerusalem, Acts 8:2), so James responds to the need to instruct them and exhort them? Other factors also influence the possible dates for the letter. Until about AD 40 or 41, when the first gentile, Cornelius, became a convert to Christianity, all the believers would have been ethnically Jewish. Until about AD 45 when Paul made some missionary journeys to Gentile communities, the majority of converts were Jewish. If we date the writing of James before AD 45, we must capitalize the D and speak of Dispersion, for Jewish Christians made up the bulk of the converts at this early date.

James 1:2ff tells us the readers are experiencing trials, adversity, privations, hardships, perhaps poverty and hunger. Their lives are threatened by a daily struggle with a variety of external circumstances, every one of which could become a source of temptation (James 1:13ff) that would threaten their faith. Is it possible this is a picture of how hard life was for years for people who are refugees? Acts 8:1 tells us that as they fled the city after the death of Stephen, some of the scattered Jerusalem church members went to Judea and Samaria. Acts 11:19 tells us others went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Syrian Antioch. In those places most of them would have to start all over again to build their homes, businesses, and lives. James 1:12 is another implication that the readers are Christians who love the Lord, and that faithfulness in face of whatever trials they meet will result in a crown of life when this life is over.

James 1:18 reminds the readers of how they became Christians. They were brought forth by the word of truth, and they were the firstfruits of a huge harvest of souls for Christ. Firstfruits fits the idea the readers are ethnically Jewish, since the gospel went to the Jews first (Romans 1:6; 2:9,10). His creatures reminds us that Christians are a new creation (Galatians 6:15).

James 1:22 — James is anxious that his readers prove to be doers of the Word, not just hearers only. If we identify the Word with the Gospel, the word of truth that 1:18 spoke about being involved in their conversion, and the perfect law of liberty that 1:25 calls attention to, then we may imply the readers are being tempted to abandon the Gospel. We will offer the hypothesis that James reflects the struggle the church faced when the Pharisaic Judaizers began invading the congregations and drawing away disciples after them (Acts 15, Galatians 2). To embrace what the Judaizers taught would result in being entangled in a yoke of bondage (Galatians 2:4; Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1), with all their liberty gone!⁴

James 1:27 — Have the readers, themselves facing hardship, been neglecting those who are less fortunate, namely, the widows and orphans?

James 2:1 is a solid statement that the readers are Christians, adherents of the faith Jesus taught. As such, they must be exceedingly careful lest they show special favoritism to rich people⁵ who may visit the weekly assembly of believers. Assembly is sunagogē (synagogue) in the Greek. This is not the usual word for the Christian assembly, which was ekklēsia. Does the use of synagogue reflect the common language of Jewish people for their religious assembly, even after they became Christians?⁶ Does the use of the word synagogue imply the Christians are still meeting in the synagogues, not as yet having separated from the unbelieving Jews?⁷ Glorious Lord or Lord of glory is certainly a reflection of the risen Christ who appeared in a glorified body after His resurrection from the dead, and who now sits enthroned in glory at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

James 2:6 has the rich oppressing and dragging Christians into court. Is this one of the trials that 1:2 referred to?

James 2:7 – Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you are called? Are the rich blaspheming the name of Christ or the name Christian? If it is the name Christian, that requires a date for James later than AD 44. We recall that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch (Acts 11:26) during Paul's and Barnabas' year-long ministry in that town, a ministry dated about AD 42 or 43.⁸ Is the name Christ, so that blasphemy of Christ reflects what the Judaizers were doing as they tried to win converts away from the churches?

James 2:8-12 call attention to the royal law and the law. Passages from Leviticus and Exodus or Deuteronomy are quoted. Is James appealing to the Law of Moses as a basis of his instruction to his Christian readers? Is James appealing to something Jesus taught (note the margin reads law of your King)? Verse 12 again speaks of the law of liberty. Has the Gospel superseded the Law of Moses as the rule of faith and practice for Christians?

James 2:14-26 again emphasizes the imperative of ministering to the poor and needy. Such ministry is an inherent part of the faith. This is something any Christian can do, whether he himself is rich or poor. It is in this paragraph that we have James' famous statement about faith and works with the example of Abraham used to make the point perfectly clear that living faith automatically assumes the corresponding works of faith. Faith without works is not a living faith, it is dead! Bible students immediately recall what Paul wrote about faith and works (in Romans and Galatians). Was James written after Paul wrote Romans and Galatians? they ask, or before?⁹ They ask, Do Paul and James say the same thing? or Do Paul and James contradict?¹⁰ Are Paul and James dealing with the same issue (i.e., the teachings of the Judaizers) and are they using the same Scriptural arguments (e.g., both quote Genesis 15:6) to refute those church destroyers?

James 3:1ff contain a prohibition about becoming teachers. Just why did James try to discourage his readers from seeking to be teachers? Is the reason to be found in the fact that all of us have difficulty controlling what we permit to come out of our mouths? Was there some connection between a desire to be teachers and the general attempt to spread Judaizing dogma? And why does James call attention to the fact that some ideas the teacher teaches may come from the Devil himself (verse 6)? When James says we shall incur stricter judgment he is including himself as a teacher in the church.

James 3:13ff speak of jealousy, strife, disorder, and every evil thing. Is this a glance at the evil effects the Judaizers were producing among the congregations they invaded? Do verses 17 and 18 say that what the Judaizers are teaching is not wisdom from above, nor does it produce righteousness (right relationships with God and man)?

James 4:1ff speaks about being careful when it comes to choosing one's friends. Is James saying one should be very cautious about choosing to develop friendships with the Judaizers? To be a friend of the world automatically makes you at war with God. God is a jealous lover who will share his beloved with no rival.

James 4:10-17 is a call to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Is this another bold repudiation of the Judaizers who bristled at the idea Jesus might be Lord or Christ? However, a man does not have to speak publicly against Jesus. One can just as surely repudiate the lordship of Jesus by failing to take His will into account when we plan our future activities. Such planning, unconscious of Jesus' will, is sin.

James 5:1-11 call for patience and endurance when facing injustice. Someone rich has been systematically oppressing the poor among James' Christian readers. Who are these rich oppressors? And who is the righteous one who was put to death (verse 6)? Several verses in this paragraph promise a coming of the Lord very soon. What coming? Did James mistakenly believe the Second Coming was imminent? If he believed that and wrote it, what does this say about his possible inspiration? Or is this one of the places in the New Testament where the sending of the Roman armies to destroy unbelieving Jerusalem (AD 70) is spoken of as something King Jesus (the Lord of Hosts, verse 4) did as He providentially moves history from His throne on high?¹¹ Are commentators who treat these verses as a reference to the Second Coming mistaken? The illustration about the early and late rains clearly suggests the writer (and perhaps the readers) is familiar with the Palestinian climate and the whole eastern coast of the Mediterranean.

James 5:12, with its warning against evasive distinctions in oaths, reminds us of a similar warning made by Jesus (Matthew 5:34-37). In fact a number of verses in James remind us of Jesus' instructions about how He expected His followers to live their everyday lives. How did James come to such intimate knowledge of all these sayings of Jesus?

James 5:13-18 deal with prayer. Included are instructions to people who are sick in bed about summoning the elders of the church for prayer. As the elders pray, they will anoint the sick with oil. Is this a reflection of a Jewish practice still being done by the Jewish Christians to whom James writes? Does James, who often did things according to the Jewish way he grew up (Acts 21:18ff), anywhere else in his letter reflect some of the Jewish practices which he had perfect liberty in Christ to continue to do, but which we would not be obligated to do? The reference to elders and church give us a picture of life in the various places where the readers of this letter lived. There were congregations of believers, and each was shepherded by elders.

James 5:19-20 closes with the sad warning that there was a danger some of the readers would stray from the truth. Does this picture what a person had to do who embraced what the Judaizers were teaching? James also encourages his readers to make a valiant attempt to try to bring the wanderers to repentance, knowing that if they did so, they would save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. Is there a glance at Judaism, where the blood of bulls and goats never could take away sins? Is this James' final warning against what the Judaizers were trying to do?

James does not include the customary epistolary ending. The letter ends abruptly, with no benediction. Was the abrupt ending deliberate? Have the last verses of the letter been lost? Did something happen to the author so that he was unable to finish the letter?

Several notable items emerged during our review of possible historical allusions.

(1) There are similarities of language between this epistle and the speech and letter of James recorded in Acts 15.¹² The classic epistolary form chairein (greeting) is used in both James 1:1 and Acts 15:23, and elsewhere only at Acts 23:26. The honorable name by which you are called (James 2:7) reminds us of Acts 15:17. The exhortation to the brethren (adelphoi) to hear is found in both James 2:5 and Acts 15:13. Further parallels are found in such individual words as episkepteusthe (James 1:27, Acts 15:14); epistrepsein (James 5:19,20, Acts 15:19); tērein (James 1:27, Acts 15:29); and agapētos (James 1:16,19, 2:5, Acts 15:25).¹³

(2) The Greek in this epistle is good Greek. The Greek has been pronounced by Moulton and Howard as among the best found in the New Testament.¹⁴ Some have wondered if a person who grew up in Galilee, as the brother of the Lord did, could have had such a command of the Greek. However, it must be remembered that Galilee was bilingual, and the region on the east side of the lake called Decapolis was comprised of ten Greek cities. It would have been within the power of any Galilean to gain a knowledge of Greek. Further, the leader of the church at Jerusalem, which had numerous Hellenistic Jews in it, would be obliged to learn Greek if he were going to communicate with his church members. If he didn't have a facility to use Greek from his days in Galilee, he certainly could have acquired it in his days in Jerusalem.

(3) The number of imperative verbs. In the 108 verses there are over 50 imperative verbs.¹⁵ James writes as though he were conscious he had a right to be recognized as one who could speak authoritatively to his readers. An apostle is one who could so speak as they give divine directives to men. From James it becomes evident that Christianity is one of the few religions in the world that makes ethical demands upon its members.

(4) A number of allusions to the teachings of Jesus. A number of writers have produced a chart showing there is scarcely a thought in the epistle which cannot be traced to Christ's personal teaching.¹⁶ A typical chart compares what James writes with what Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount:

One begins to wonder whether James has seen a copy of Matthew's Gospel,¹⁷ or whether both James and Matthew were in Jesus' audience the day He delivered the Sermon,¹⁸ or whether James is producing reminiscences of oral teaching which he heard since his conversion.¹⁹ The apostle Paul, who (like Jerusalem James) was not one of Jesus' original apostles, received his knowledge about Jesus' ministry by direct revelation (Galatians 1:12). What is to keep us from supposing something similar occurred in James' case?

(5) Indications the readers were Christians are found in 1:1 and 2:1. In addition there are features that make sense only if the readers are followers of Jesus, namely the striking number of parallels between the commands James writes and the teachings of Jesus, and the appeals to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

(6) The writer had an intimate knowledge of the circumstances and behavioral characteristics of his readers. The readers have been scattered (1:1) and face difficult times that can even become temptations. In those places where they have settled, there are congregations (2:2) each having its own elders (5:14). It is imperative they put into daily practice what their Lord and Savior taught. Their public assemblies together are open to visitors (2:2-3) and this indicates they have not been forced into a ghetto nor have they created a closed community as a defense mechanism. The Christians, for the most part, are poor, and are suffering injustice at the hands of their wealthy neighbors (2:6,7; 5:1-6). Poor though they may be, they still have the means to relieve the needs of those less fortunate (1:27; 2:15,16). Typical tensions that arise when folk are struggling to make ends meet are anger (1:19-20), jealousy (4:1-2), slander and criticism (4:11-12). Calls to demonstrate their faith by appropriate actions, and warnings about straying from the way of truth, show something threatens to lure the readers away from following Jesus Christ. Those who have begun to stray need to be encouraged to repent or they will perish.

(7) There are quotations and allusions to the Old Testament Scriptures. Direct quotations number five (1:11, 2:8, 11,23, 4:6) - three from the Pentateuch, one from Isaiah, and one from Proverbs.²⁰ All three divisions of the Old Testament canon are represented. Indirect allusions are numerable (e.g., 1:10; 2:21,23,25; 3:9; 4:6; 5:2,11,17,18).²¹ When the writer wants an illustration for prayer and patience he turns to Old Testament characters. When he approaches ethical problems, there are times his denunciations and warnings sound just like the Old Testament prophets (and no wonder, if he is a bond-servant of God, 1:1).

(8) While James is very practical with numerous calls to consistent, everyday Christian living, there also is a solid doctrinal basis for what James writes. The theology found in James is in complete harmony with Apostolic truth everywhere recorded in the New Testament Scriptures. There is a doctrine of God,²² a doctrine of sin,²³ a doctrine of salvation,²⁴ a solid Christology that emphasizes the teachings of Jesus, His lordship,²⁵ and even makes allusion to His resurrection,²⁶ a doctrine concerning the Law and the Gospel,²⁷ and even incidental allusions to church polity and congregational life.

---

¹ In those manuscripts that carried the one word title of James, most likely the word epistolē (letter) was understood before of James, though Windisch (Die katholischen Briefe in HNT [Tubingen: Mohr, 1951], p.3) offered the suggestion the implied word was didachē (teaching).

² James writes twelve tribes. The idea that there have been Ten Lost Tribes ever since the Captivities, and that these lost tribes are comprised of the Anglo-Saxon peoples (the theory is sometimes called British Israelism) is a fiction not supported by the Bible. See also our twelve tribes in Acts 26:7.

³ Compare also 1 Peter 1:1 and Matthew 19:28.

⁴ As we attempt to prove our hypothesis about the time and purpose of James, we shall look for similar arguments and language used by Paul to refute the Judaizers (both at the Jerusalem Conference and in his anti-Judaizer letters, Romans and Galatians), with which we may compare what James writes.

⁵ Were the rich unconverted visitors whom the brethren were trying to impress, or were they church members who were being shown favoritism? Are the rich of 2:2 a different group than the rich of 1:10?

⁶ Later, Christians will use the Greek term ekklēsia for the assembly. In fact, James himself uses church in 5:14, and his use of both terms seems to treat them as equivalent, meaning a Christian congregation.

⁷ Paul left the synagogues he first preached in when the Jewish leadership opposed him, making assembly with them no longer convenient or possible. What was usual or customary in communities where preachers like Paul have not yet been ostracized?

⁸ The ministry in Antioch (Acts 11) was before Herod Agrippa I died (as recorded in Acts 12) in AD 44.

⁹ The date we assign for the writing of Romans is AD 57, and for Galatians is AD 58. See the commentator's New Testament Survey Notes for an outline presentation of the reasons for these dates. See his commentary on Romans for detailed notes on the dating of Romans. We date Galatians late because Galatians 4:13 indicates Paul has visited Galatia at least twice before he wrote his letter to them. The second visit would have occurred during Paul's second missionary journey (AD 51-54). We date Romans, Galatians, and both letters to the Corinthians from Paul's third missionary journey (AD 54-58).

¹⁰ Do Paul and James use faith and works and justify with the same meanings? Faith in James is more than mental assent (the demons belief is mental assent, and that's valueless); for James, it is a faith that shows itself in works. Faith to Paul in Romans is faithfulness to what God has said, an obedient faith, a walking in the steps of Abraham's faith. Paul says works of law (i.e., man-made religious rules like the Pharisees/Judaizers demanded of people) do not justify. Paul also says that at the final judgment what a man has done (whether or not he has faithfully done what God has commanded) will be one of the key issues investigated (Romans 2:6-11). James would certainly agree when he speaks of being judged by the law of liberty (James 2:12). This issue is of such importance that a detailed study of it will appear later in these Introductory Studies.

¹¹ If the coming of Jesus that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem is the thing promised as being near, this would call for a late date for the writing of James.

¹² This argument assumes that the speech of James records the exact words James spoke. The modern suggestion that Luke simply composed the speeches and put them in the mouths of the characters he is writing about is hardly an acceptable view.

¹³ Not all scholars are ready to admit any evidential value to these similarities. Tasker ( The General Epistle of James in TNTC [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957], p.26) has cautioned against placing too much weight on these resemblances, because resemblances between James' speech (Acts 15) and other New Testament books could be cited where similarity of authorship is not even being discussed. Nevertheless, the easiest explanation of the parallels is that the words come from the same James.

¹⁴ J. H. Moulton and W. F. Howard, A Grammar of New Testament Greek (1929), V.2, p.27. See more on this matter of excellent Greek in the section below on style.

¹⁵ The number varies depending on which Greek text is being used to count the number of imperatives. Some count 60. Some count 59. Some count 54.

¹⁶ Writers who believe the synoptic writers made use of the hypothetical source Q are not enamored with this comparison between James and the teaching of Jesus because they hold that we cannot know how much of Q derives from Jesus and how much is the result of editing. It is amazing (and exasperating to folk who wish to be believers) how current synoptic studies tend to obfuscate more than the gospels!

¹⁷ The possibility James has seen a copy of Matthew's Gospel is discussed in the comments on James 5:12.

¹⁸ While Matthew was certainly present, we do not know if the Lord's brother was present on the Mount. Not only are there parallels to what is found in Matthew, but some writers have found parallels in James to what is recorded about Jesus by Mark and Luke. For example, there is a parallel to James 5:17 in Luke 4:2ff (the reference to the three and one-half years of rainlessness in Elijah's time). Who is to say that James did not hear our Lord speak these words when they were spoken in the synagogue at Nazareth?

¹⁹ Oral traditions certainly preceded the writing of the Gospel accounts. These were carefully monitored for accuracy by ministers of the Word (Luke 1:2). We flatly reject the idea that Matthew's Gospel is a composite of Mark and another source (Q), and that Mark redacted the material he was adapting into his Gospel. If we must go through Mark and Q (yes, and even different alleged recensions of Q) to get to Matthew, it is of little value to note any supposed similarities between Jesus and James.

²⁰ Most of the quotations of Old Testament books are taken from the text of the LXX, though there are places where James substitutes a word of his own choosing for the word actually found in the LXX. The citation of Proverbs 3:34 at James 4:6 differs markedly from the LXX.

²¹ Mayor (The Epistle of James [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1954 reprint, p.lxix ff) finds parallels from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Kings, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and seven Minor Prophets.

²² God is generous (1:5), holy (1:13), one in whom is no variation (1:17). He is the one and only God (2:19), the Father of His people and the prototype in whose likeness men were created (3:9). He is full of compassion and mercy (5:11). He hears men's prayers (1:5, 4:3). He judges men's behavior (1:27).

²³ All have sinned (3:2); all are tempted the same way (1:14,15); and sin results in death (1:15). Some individual expressions of sin include anger (1:20), disgusting and offensive conduct (1:21), blasphemy (2:7), discrimination (2:9-11), bitterness and lust (4:1-3), spiritual adultery and intimate ties with the evil world (4:4), pride (4:6), theft and oppression (5:4), and backsliding (5:19,20). Behind the evil in the world is the Devil (4:7) and his demons (2:19, 3:15).

²⁴ James speaks of regeneration (1:18), salvation of the soul (1:21), and justification (2:21-25). He promises the believer forgiveness of sins (5:15). He points out that saving faith is an obedient faith (2:14-26). There is a blessing from God to be had in rescuing wandering souls (5:19,20). Christians are heirs of the kingdom (2:5). The end time will feature a final judgment (2:12, 3:1). There will come a day when faithful Christians receive the crown of life (1:12).

²⁵ Jesus is called Lord numerous times in the letter. He exercises a providential control over His creation (4:15, 5:7-8). He is Lord of Hosts (5:4 NASB mg.). He now lives in glory and He is Judge (4:12). He is the One before whom humbling oneself is appropriate (4:10). The Lord is the one in whose name the sick are anointed and who will heal them (5:13-16).

²⁶ He is called Lord of glory at 2:1(KJV).

²⁷ The Law of Moses is alluded to (2:8-11), while the Gospel (the law of liberty) is the authority in these last days (1:25, 2:12, 5:3). The New Testament elsewhere (e.g., Hebrews 8-10) presents the temporary nature of the Law of Moses. James agrees with this presentation. He does not reassure his readers that the Law (the priceless possession of every Jew before Christ) is still a binding code of statutes. The Mosaic covenant has been abrogated in favor of the new covenant.

AUTHORSHIP AND ATTESTATION

While there is little that the writer tells us directly of himself in the historical allusions, there are few writings from this same period in which the historical allusions (in such a short letter) tell any more about the author than is found in the epistle of James. He calls himself James, bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and he addresses the twelve tribes who are dispersed. To these he speaks with authority.

The name James (actually Jacob in the Hebrew and Greek) was a favorite with the Jews, since Jacob was the progenitor of the Jewish people.¹ This letter's writer is a James who is so well-known that no more identification is needed by the first readers of this epistle.

A cursory reading of the New Testament shows there are several different persons named James:

1) James, the son of Zebedee, one of the original 12 apostles

He is the brother of the apostle John, their parents were Zebedee and Salome, and most think James was older than John since he is nearly always mentioned first. He was the first of Jesus' apostles to die, being put to death by Herod Agrippa I, about AD 44 (Acts 12:2). Likely the reason he is nowhere named in the fourth gospel is because John, the writer of that work, did not name himself or any of the characters who were related to him.

2) James, the son of Alphaeus, another of the original 12 apostles chosen by Jesus

We read about this man in Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; and Acts 1:13. Several questions are raised: Was Alphaeus' wife named Mary? Where does it say so? Are Alphaeus and Clopas variations of the same name? Even though there is a superficial word resemblance, we can't rely on Clopas and "Alphaeus' being variations of the same name.

3) James, the Less

This man's mother's name was Mary (Matthew 27:56; Luke 24:10), and he had a brother named Joses (Matthew 27:56). He apparently was given the description the Less (Mark 15:40) to distinguish him from the other men named James (i.e., the son of Zebedee and the son of Alphaeus). Whether it referred to his stature or his age, we have no way of knowing for certain.

4) James, the father of the apostle Jude

This Jude is also called Thaddaeus and Lebbeus. He is carefully distinguished from Iscariot (Luke 6:16). The Greek at Acts 1:13 reads Jude of James. This expression is rightly translated in the ASV, "Judas, the son of James. The KJV's brother of" is in error.

5) James, the brother of the Lord

He shares a family relationship to the Lord with Joses, Simon, and Judas, and with some unnamed sisters (Galatians 1:19; Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3).

6) James, leader of the Jerusalem church

After the apostle James (the son of Zebedee) was martyred (Acts 12:2), another James appears on the scene as leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts 12:17, 15:13, 21:18; 1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 2:9,12).

7) James, the brother of the author of the epistle called Jude (Jude 1:1)

8) James, a bondservant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1)

This list may reasonably be consolidated and reduced to four or five persons:

1) James, the son of Zebedee

2) James, the son of Alphaeus

3) James, the Less²

4) James, the father of Jude

5) James, the brother of the Lord³

Of these five persons, three have been singled out as the possible author of the epistle called James. The arguments for and against each include:

1) James, Son of Zebedee

The subscription in Codex Corbeiensis (ff¹), a 9th century manuscript, has in Latin Explicit epistola Iacobi filii Zaebedei (epistle of James, a son of Zebedee).⁴ Subscriptions in the Peshitto Syriac also ascribe the writing of this epistle to the elder James (i.e., the son of Zebedee). This James was one of the original twelve apostles of Jesus, and so would satisfy bondservant at James 1:1. Since he was martyred in AD 44 (Acts 12), if he were the author of our letter, it would settle several disputed matters. The destination would be to Jewish Christians (that's about all the converts we have at this early date), and this letter would be the earliest book of the New Testament to be written.

One thing that causes us to be hesitant about naming this man as the author of the letter is the address to the twelve tribes who are scattered. We have some problems finding Jewish Christians scattered (dispersed) before AD 40, to whom the son of Zebedee could have written before his death in AD 44. The preaching of the Gospel up to AD 34 (when Stephen was martyred) was confined mostly to within the limits of Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:2). The Jerusalem church was then scattered (Acts 8:2,4). By AD 40-42, some of the Christians who became refugees when Paul began the persecution that resulted in the death of Stephen went as far as Cyprus and Antioch (Acts 11:19). Is that enough of a dispersion to satisfy the address of this letter?

Few scholars have defended the proposition that this man was indeed the author of our epistle; most commentators reject the son of Zebedee as the James who wrote this epistle, arguing it is just too early in church history for this letter. Further, with the exception of the few references noted above, external evidence from Early Christian writers does not point to the son of Zebedee as the author.

2) James, the apostle, the son of Alphaeus

This view carefully distinguishes between James, the son of Alphaeus and James, the Lord's brother insisting these are not just two designations for the same person.⁵

Perhaps the 5th century copyists of the Peshitto Syriac who attributed the epistle to James the apostle had the son of Alphaeus in mind. (Copyists of the Syriac at a later age attributed the epistle to the son of Zebedee, for they state that the three Catholic Epistles admitted to that version - James, 1 Peter, and 1 John - are by the three apostles who witnessed the Transfiguration.⁶)

Calvin thought that the James described in Galatians 2:9 as a pillar of the church was in fact the son of Alphaeus, but he hesitated to assign to him the authorship of the epistle. In the forward to his commentary he states that it is not for him to say whether this James (son of Alphaeus) or the ruler of the church in Jerusalem (the brother of the Lord) was the author of James.⁷

J. Sidlow Baxter defends the son of Alphaeus as being the author of our epistle.⁸

If we assign this James as the author we are faced with several problems : (1) Why did some speak against including James in the canon if it were written by one of the original twelve apostles? (2) What date and destination shall we assign the letter? We have no evidence where the son of Alphaeus ministered. Nothing of special import is said of this James in the Gospels.

3) James, brother of Jesus

As early as AD 37 (Galatians 1:19), the brother of Jesus is styled an apostle, thus satisfying the word bondservant of James 1:1. It is this man who is the James of Jerusalem so prominent in Acts 12:17,15:13ff, 21:18.

This James is a Christian, but one who still holds many Jewish beliefs and social customs, as did the members of the congregation over which he presided (Acts 21:18ff). He was reputed as of equal authority (one of the pillars) with Peter and John (Galatians 2:6ff).

What external testimony we have (see Attestation below) is in harmony with this identification.

If we opt for this man being our author, then the letter could be dated anywhere between AD 37 (Galatians 1:19) and his death in AD 62 (or AD 69).

Of these three men named James, two appear with enough frequency in the pages of the New Testament and might, therefore, be well enough known to satisfy the criterion of needing to give no more identification than his name in order to be known by the first readers of this epistle - (1) James, the son of Zebedee, and (2) James, the brother of Jesus.

When all the options have been sorted and weighed, we have come to agree with the traditional view, that James, the brother of the Lord, is the author of this letter. This identification is supported by:

(1) The similarity of the language of the letter with that of James's speech and the circular letter of Acts 15.

(2) The consistency of the historical reports of the life and character of the Lord's brother with what is found in the epistle.

(3) The fact that no other James fits the situation as well as the Lord's brother.

(4) The fact that James, the Lord's brother, is uniformly mentioned by his personal name alone (Galatians 2:9; Jude 1; Acts 12:17, 15:13, 21:18) just as James 1:1 has it.⁹

Attempts to learn more about James' identity have raised at least five difficult questions.¹⁰

1. Jerusalem James is called the brother of the Lord (Galatians 1:19). What does the word brother mean?¹¹ Adelphos means brother, literally out of the same womb, but the word can also have a figurative meaning (James 1:2). There is a distinct Greek word for cousin (anepsios) which occurs at Colossians 4:10.¹² If some less-specific term for relative was needed, the word suggenēs was available (e.g., Luke 1:36, 38, 2:44). This word suggenēs is a word for relative without making the exact relationship clear. No one, without a theological axe to grind, would ever have thought of trying to make adelphos mean 'cousin' instead of 'brother'.¹³ The brothers of Jesus were named James, Joses [Joseph in some manuscripts], Simon, and Judas (Mark 6:3). If John 19:25 names four women, the parents of these brothers are Joseph and/or Mary.¹⁴ Were they Joseph's children and so older than Jesus? This identification is called the Epiphanian View.¹⁵ Arguments raised in support of it call attention to brothers' attempted interference with Jesus' conduct (Matthew 12:46, 13:54-56; Mark 3:21,31; 6:2,3; Luke 8:19-21) which to some people is supposed to imply that the brothers were older than He. If they were Joseph's children by a former wife, the brothers and sisters would be older than Jesus (who was Mary's first child). According to this view, in which the brothers of Jesus are actually step brothers, the word adelphos must have the sense of near relative.¹⁶ Were they Mary's children, and so younger than Jesus? This identification is called the Helvidian View. Some have argued¹⁷ that it must have been because the brothers were younger than Jesus that Jesus entrusted Mary to John's care (John 19:26,27). The word firstborn (Luke 2:7 and Textus Receptus of Matthew 1:25) has seemed to many to say Jesus was the oldest of Mary's children. (Cp. Exodus 13:2,12,15).¹⁸ They would be half brothers, adelphos, out of the same womb. The natural interpretation of brother or sister is to take the words as meaning the children of Joseph and Mary, and thus half-brothers and half-sisters of Jesus.

2. Are James the son of Alphaeus and James the Lord's brother the same person?

a) First, a table of the 12 apostles will be a help as we try to answer this question.

b) Second, a listing of the women who watched the crucifixion of Jesus will help us arrive at an answer to this question.

c) Matthew and Mark each name three women, whence it is thought that Salome (named by Mark) was the name of the mother of James and John (the sons of Zebedee as Matthew calls them).

d) But much of our problem lies with John 19:25, But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Does John mention three or four women? If THREE, then Mary, the wife of Clopas, was Jesus' mother's sister. This would have two children named Mary in the same family. This would make James the Less and Joses to be COUSINS of Jesus. It is possible to read John 19:25 as though there were but three women there, namely, His mother, His mother's sister, and Mary Magdalene. If FOUR women are named, then Salome, the wife of Zebedee, was Jesus' mother's sister. This would make James and John, the sons of Zebedee, to be COUSINS of Jesus. In defense of this view it can be said: (i) John is giving two pairs of women, each pair coupled by and. The first pair is kindred to Jesus, and the women are unnamed; it is paralleled by the other pair, who are not kindred, and whose names are given. (ii) It accords with John's custom to withhold the names of himself and all his kindred, so that in his Gospel he nowhere gives his own, his mother's or his brother's name, nor does he even give the name of our Lord's mother, who was his aunt. (iii) This family relationship would explain in part why Jesus, when dying, left the care of his mother to John. It was not an unnatural thing to impose such a burden upon a kinsman.

e) If John names FOUR women, then we have no Biblical basis for the idea that James the son of Alphaeus is to be identified with James the Lord's brother.

3. Can James the son of Alphaeus and James the son of Clopas be the same person? Such an identification also requires us to say that James the son of Alphaeus must also have been known as James the Less (who was the son of Clopas). Is this identification possible? No. Who were the parents of James the Less? Not Joseph and Mary, but Clopas and Mary.¹⁹ That being true, if it is James the Less who is called a brother of Jesus (as Paul describes him), the term brother must be used in a loose sense. Furthermore, there is no evidence that James the Less was ever one of Jesus' apostles, like James the Son of Zebedee, and James the son of Alphaeus were. It is also apparent that Alphaeus and Clopas are not the same persons, since Alphaeus and Clopas [Cleophas] can hardly be two different ways of spelling the same man's name. As noted above, Mary, the wife of Clopas (who was the mother of James the Less and Joses) was at the cross when Jesus was crucified (Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40, John 19:25). Only if Clopas could also be spelled Cleophas might an identification with Alphaeus be made. This is hardly possible.²⁰

This whole question has wider ramifications, since the Hieronymian view is dependent on identifying Alphaeus and Cleophas as being two ways of spelling the name. That's the only way the sons of Alphaeus (Clophas) could be Jesus' cousins. The Hieronymian view seems to flounder on John 7:5, where Jesus' brothers are described as not believing on Him. If that is true, how could any of them have been among the original 12 apostles?²¹ If Alphaeus and Clopas are not the same people, then we have no way of knowing who Alphaeus' wife was, or whether he had any children other than a son named James.²²

4. Can Jerusalem James be identified with one of the original apostles of Jesus, such as James, the son of Alphaeus? We have already shown that James, the Lord's brother and James, the son of Alphaeus are not the same person. In spite of this, arguments have been marshalled in favor of identifying the son of Alphaeus as being the same person as the brother of the Lord. (a) If the two men are distinct, then one of them (James, the son of Alphaeus, one of the original 12 apostles) disappears altogether from the New Testament after Acts 1:13. It is asked, Would we have James the apostle disappear, and another James (almost unintroduced as is Luke's custom in Acts) suddenly taking a prominent position in the church at Jerusalem? Yet several of the apostles do disappear (e.g., Simon the Zealot, Bartholomew, and Thomas) and Acts 1:14 may be considered sufficient introduction for the second James (i.e., the Lord's brother), for at 1:14 Luke speaks of His brethren. (b) If the two men are distinct, we have certainly two, and in all probability three, sets of brothers bearing the same names. We have James, Joseph, and Simon, the Lord's brothers. Then we have James, Joses, and Symeon, the sons of Clopas. And Alphaeus had a son named James. (Did he perhaps have other sons named Joseph and Simon?) Yet these names were in common use by many Jewish parents for their boys, so not much stress can be laid on this argument, (c) If the two men are one and the same, then there is little evidence in the Gospels that Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave birth to other children besides Jesus, which is a conclusion about Mary that is appealing to many. The fact that our Lord, on the cross, committed Mary to the care of the apostle John is then thought to support the conclusion that Mary did not have other children of her own. Yet there are several reasons to doubt that Mary was the mother of only Jesus: i) Jesus preferred to place His mother in the care of a believer rather than a non-believer; and His brothers were unbelievers until after His resurrection (John 7:5). ii) If John were a nephew of Jesus' mother (Mary and Salome were sisters), there is nothing unusual in Jesus' committing Mary to John's care. iii) If the sons of Alphaeus and the brothers of the Lord are the same group of people, then we must also defend the idea that adelphos can mean cousin. As is shown above, this is hard to do. (d) The Epiphanian View (see page xv above) also treats the two men as one and the same. It is thought that the behavior of the brethren towards Jesus as they try to thwart His ministry and get Him out of the public spotlight (because they fear He has lost His senses) is that of elders towards a younger. But not necessarily. They came to assist His mother, if she needed help to persuade Jesus to give up His ministry and come home (Mark 3:21,31; Matthew 12:46). When all have grown to manhood (as Jesus and the brethren would have by the time Jesus is in His public ministry), a few years difference in age does not count for much. (e) Appeal has also been made to references in the apocryphal gospels to prove that the Lord's brother and the son of Alphaeus are the same person. A narrative contained in the Gospel According to the Hebrews (as quoted by Jerome),²³ represents James the Just, the Lord's brother, as present at the institution of the Lord's Supper. If true, he would be one of the Twelve (cf. Matthew 26:20). The superscription of the apocryphal gospel of James (Protevangelium Jacobi) assumes the same view, i.e., that James the Just was one of the original Twelve. However, the apocryphal gospels are hardly trustworthy sources of information.

To balance the account, it seems well to list again the arguments for insisting that James the son of Alphaeus and James the brother of the Lord are two distinct persons. (a) It enables us to give the term adelphos, brother, its natural meaning. (b) The Lord's brethren are mentioned in the Gospels in connection with Mary the mother of Jesus, or with Joseph, His reputed father, never once with Mary of Clopas (the assumed wife of Alphaeus). It surely would have been otherwise if the latter Mary were the mother of the brother of the Lord. (c) The attempted identification of the son of Alphaeus and the brother of the Lord" apparently began with Jerome in the 4th century AD; the identification was not heard of before Jerome's day. Jerome invented the theory of identification (see his ad Matth, xii), and it has been generally followed by Catholic scholars. It helps make the case for the perpetual virginity of Mary. There is no tradition in the Early Church Fathers in favor of the Epiphanian or Hieronymian theories. It was the opinion of Hegesippus, Eusebius, Gregory of Nyssa, the Apostolic Constitutions, and the majority of the church fathers that the son of Alphaeus and the Lord's brother were different persons.²⁴ The New Testament clearly shows a distinction between the brethren of the Lord, and the Apostles (disciples) of the Lord (John 2:12, 7:5; Mark 3:21,31). Moreover, early church traditions after the close of the apostolic age make James the Lord's brother one of the Seventy, but never one of the Twelve. If he were one of the Twelve, this would be hard to explain. The brother of the Lord could not have been one of the original apostles (as James the son of Alphaeus was), for the brothers of the Lord did not believe on Him (John 7:5).

5. How can Jerusalem James be called an apostle in Galatians 1:19? If it could be shown that Jerusalem James and James the son of Alphaeus were the same persons, then he is called an apostle in Galatians 1 because he was